The Maze
by goldenlanterns
Summary: In which, Lance and Keith are technically friends but also really good at making each other mad . . . /Slight Langst, bonding moments and dumb banter throughout


**_(Rated T for cursing only)_**

 ** _I always thought it was weird that Lance came to Keith when he was upset about the change in Lions, instead of anyone else. To me, there had to be something that made Lance go to him about it and this piece was born. (Also, I kind of wondered about the maze bonding thing and if it continued throughout the series)_**

 ** _So yeah, h_** ** _ere's an overly long thing that's mostly banter but whaatevver (Set sometime in Season 2)_**

 ** _OOO_**

Confession time: Lance remembered the bonding moment.

Obviously.

Yeah, he was out of it and injured and having a hardcore migraine but he would remember _not hating Keith's guts_. Another confession, Lance never really hated Keith in particular. . . The guy was just so good at flying and fighting and he didn't care. It was such a waste of talent really, Lance would have been glad to pilot like that mullet headed weirdo. But Keith was seemingly unaware of his skills and Lance was hyper aware of them.

That was what made Lance so mad at Keith, his ability to do everything so much better than him and with such ease.

Yeah. That's right. Lance is jealous of Keith, alright? Laugh it up. Lance didn't care. (Who the hell was he kidding? He really cared. Way too much.)

Things were getting better between them though, despite everything. Voltron forced them to more than tolerate each other, to work as a team. (Not to mention living with each other because honestly, Lance had to resist starting a food fight almost every meal nowadays.)

So yeah, Lance remembered the freaking bonding moment. He remembered Keith's hand and his smile. His hand was kind of nasty of Lance recalled correctly, slippery with sweat and covered in rough callouses from sword fighting. But that was okay. Everyone didn't moisturize like himself. Keith's smile was kind of fuzzy in his memory, just a slight twitch of his lips, almost like Lance was imagining things. Lance's head was spinning and his back was killing him but that didn't stop his big mouth.

"We are a good team."

Of all the stupid, cheesy and dramatic trash that Lance could have said, he just had to say _that_. Thinking back on it, Lance was seriously embarrassed.

 _What the frick is wrong with you Lance? One second, he's your enemy and now you kind of want to be his friend! Keith doesn't do friends! Keith is mean! Be mean back!_

Of course, in the back of his mind, Lance was considering the fact that the only time Keith was mean was when Lance had provoked him. But whatever.

Lance was actually really surprised (not quite pleasantly, for Lance hadn't gotten over his embarrassment) when Keith seemed agitated after he denied the bonding between them. In slight panic, he refused that it had ever happened, only because he had the weirdest thought. Keith looked better smiling. But that was ridiculous because Lance literally did not care about his short samurai ass.

Anyway, whatever, everyone looked better smiling to Lance so he pushed that weird thought away, buried it and held a funeral.

 _Here lies dumb shit that I won't ever think again._

The bonding moment was only brought up once after that by Pidge a day later, who was making fun of him for holding Keith's hand.

He angrily told her to piss off and Hunk managed to convinced her to actually shut up. Hunk knew Lance too well to not know something was up but he didn't say anything about it.

Lance needed to piss off too. He kept trying to make Keith laugh again and it wasn't working. It became kind of like a game to him, drag out Keith's fun side(pray it existed, more like), be his confidant, and make him laugh so Lance would know what his smile looked like without feeling like he was pounding on death's door. So he would know that he wasn't crazy, that Keith smiled and trusted him in real life.

Lance had heard once that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over an over but expect a different result. If that was true, Lance needed to be put in a crazy house because he was trying really hard to be funny to Keith and it wasn't working.

But whatever, Lance didn't care that much. Anything to pass the time, right?

And then he got chained to the stupid tree and his Lion was stolen and Keith had the audacity to laugh at him.

"Hey Lance, I got your Lion." He teased, more cheerful than Lance had heard him possibly ever. Then Lance decided he wasn't crazy because Keith was laughing and happy and acting not-loner-ish. So yeah, Keith was capable of being happy but apparently it took large amounts of trauma from Lance and some fancy flying to put him in a good mood.

After all of the action with the Balmera and Galra, the team settled back into their normal routine of dumb bonding exercises, which Allura insisted were still necessary.

The electric maze was on some sort of rotation of Paladins which resulted in Lance being guided by Keith again.

He didn't throw a fit this time(it never really fazed Keith or Coran anyway) and listened intently as Keith lead him. Coran said he had to fix something on the ship and told them not to fight or else he would involve the Princess then left the two of them alone.

"Forward. Stop. Left. Two steps more." Keith commanded, his voice near silence.

"You sound tired." Lance noticed. No doubt the kid had been midnight training again, despite Shiro's orders.

"I'm fine." He mumbled, then realized Lance was waiting for his direction, "Right and then three steps."

"For real dude, if you keep doing this, you're not going to help in the battle because you'll be too tired."

"Thanks mom. To your left again."

"You always have to have this tough guy act, don't you?"

He gritted his teeth so hard Lance heard the grind of his jaw through the headset, "I'm not the one who acts tough."

"Oh really?" Lance demanded, stopping to glare up at the control room of the training deck, "You block everyone out for no good reason."

"At least I'm not ignorant." Keith retorted.

"We're supposed to be a team!"

"We are a team Lance, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You don't trust any of us!"

"Well you don't trust me either!"

"I'm in this stupid maze while you lead me! I think I trust you enough!"

"Take a step forward then!" Keith snapped. Lance hesitated for a split second and that was all the Red Paladin needed, "You're such a hypocrite." He hissed.

Lance looked out in front of him, trying to see if there was a invisible electric field there. He trusted Keith. Right? But Lance couldn't help recall the sizzle and shock of the last time he had run into the wall.

"If you trust me," Keith grunted venomously, "then take a step forward, Lance." Like a challenge, like a dare.

A challenge was something understood among them both, and Lance swiped his hand out angrily, waving it in the place where he could swear he could hear sizzling coming from.

And his hand passed through nothing but air.

"See?" Keith demanded loudly, somehow becoming more pissed in the proof that he was right, "I told you!"

Lance was momentarily dumbfounded. Not at Keith really, but more at himself. Could it be possible that his attempts to get Keith to open up, Lance had failed to open up to him in return?

"Oh." Lance said to himself, very much out loud.

His helmet went dead silent and Lance waited a couple of seconds before mumbling, "Um. So are you gonna lead me outta here or strand me cause you're pissed?"

Keith paused a moment then spoke precisely, "Why should I give orders if you don't follow them?"

Lance groaned, "Look, I thought--"

"It doesn't really matter." He growled, "Just go right."

Lance whirled right but was shot back by the electric wall, "You did that on purpose!" He cried when he had only somewhat recovered, holding his head.

"No." Keith said, dead serious, "I didn't."

"Yes you did! You're such a liar!"

Lance heard Keith groan, muffled by what was probably his hand, covering his face in annoyance, "You're so hotheaded."

"Well we have that in common, now don't we!" Lance was near shouting at that point but decided to blame it on the electricity still making him tense and tingly with shock.

"I didn't mean to, alright?" Keith yelled back and Lance's ears began to ring, "This shitty map is always turned the wrong way!"

"Urgh." Lance threw up his hands in disgust at the situation, "Whatever, just get me out of here."

"Fine." Keith snapped, "You want out?"

The walls of the maze shimmered into sight around Lance, then slowly swiped into the floor, cutting off completely.

Lance swallowed.

This situation was one Shiro had advised him on. _If you're going to piss off Keith, try not to let him stay mad for extended periods of time. Not unless you want to genuinely fear for your life._

And if Keith was shutting the maze down, that meant he was stopping the activity, and he would deal with Allura later if he must. As long as he didn't have to deal with _Lance._

"Hey Mu-Keith?" The Blue Paladin questioned, lightly as possible, looking up into the control room.

All he got was radio silence and an empty window.

 _Well damn_ , Lance thought, That's _not good._

Much to his surprise and absolute terror, Keith appearing in the training room door way, "Are you happy now?" He asked coldly, obviously not caring.

Lance had about had it with Mullet and his dumb retorts. Besides, _was Lance happy?_ That wasn't the point. They were fighting a savage race of blood thirsty aliens who wanted to take over the universe. Jesus, Lance's feelings obviously needed to just stay out of the way.

And anyway, Lance was worried about _Keith_ and his stupid, mental well being and the fact that he was actually part savage, blood thirsty alien. Not that it didn't show through at times like this. Right about now, Lance was expecting a transformation of Keith into a full, purple Galra. But yeah, that wasn't scary at all or anything.

Lance shook his head, rigid but vigorous, attempting to sort his thoughts, "Who cares if I'm happy?" He meant to snap but his voice was deep and broken.

Keith swallowed, "It's a figure of speech."

"Oh. Like you'd know." That comment came out much more sarcastic and cold, and for a fleeting second, Lance was proud of himself. But the satisfaction was short lived as he noticed the familiar scowl on Keith's face. Lance had been around Keith and annoyed him and made him angry so much that Lance recognized the look with ease, though he was not quite sure if there was a word for it. Hurt, disappointment maybe? Clearly broken and confused.

Keith shook his head, "I didn't mean to get you electrocuted you know . . ."

Lance huffed, suddenly very mad at the way Keith was so calm and he felt like sending his fist through a wall(which he would do but all of the Castle's walls were metal), "This isn't about that."

Again with the frown, "What is it about then?" Lance groaned and Keith crossed his arms stubbornly, "You can't expect me to read your mind. You aren't Shiro."

That one hit Lance in the gut and he almost physically leaned over in pain. It hurt him and they both know it so when Lance made no effort to reply, Keith sighed.

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm bad with feelings."

Suddenly, Lance couldn't look him in the eye, and his head pounded and he angrily wondered why the _hell_ they were having this conversation.

Keith laughed drily, "The one time I wouldn't mind you talking to me and you clam up."

That irony was lost on Lance as he tried to glare up at the boy a few feet away, failing miserably, "I hate you." Was what came out when Lance muttered at him.

"I didn't mean to yell." Keith tried, conspicuously giving a peace offering even if he didn't exactly know what he was attempting to say.

The Blue Paladin buried his face in his palms, muttering some choice words at the stupidity of himself and this entire scenario. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Of course he wasn't going to make Keith _laugh_ , of all the ridiculous BS things Lance had done, this one really took the cake.

"Me neither." He managed to get out.

" . . . Do you want me to, go get someone else? Hunk? I'll go get Hunk." Keith turned with determination but Lance caught his wrist.

Keith looked at him funny, surprised and bewildered by the contact of long fingers latching to his glove.

"Don't. He'll just worry about me." Lance stated, releasing him.

There was an eyebrow raise, "Is there a reason for him to worry?"

"You sound like Shiro."

"So? Don't avoid the question."

"Urgh. I'm sorry." Lance got out, "I'm acting like an idiot."

"You aren't just acting."

"That was cold, Samurai."

"You're still avoiding the question."

"Yeah. I am." He admitted with a sigh, deciding to sit down on the training room floor before he did something stupid like run.

Keith sat a foot away, crossing his legs on the floor at a little less than Lance's ninety degrees.

And suddenly, it felt like the weirdest metaphor for their relationship. Keith wasn't his enemy(he never really had been), not sitting in front of him to meet a fight. Keith wasn't exactly his friend either, not sitting by his side. Keith was somewhere on the fence, tilting towards Lance slightly for the team, for Voltron, and for the universe.

"I don't know," Lance started, looking at his hands, "Just . . . Everyone is so good at everything." He glanced up at Keith to see if he understood but judging by his face, he was still lost.

"Like Hunk, he's good at easing everyone and his defensive tactics are awesome. Not to mention his astounding engineering skills and all that stuff that goes over my head."

Keith was frowning, trying very hard to understand, "Yeah. Hunk is great."

"And-And Pidge, with all her smarts and computer stuff and she's always one step ahead of the Galra and two steps ahead of us."

Keith's face soften slightly and he sniffed a sound of agreement.

"Allura and Coran are so cool and so good at coming up with plans. And I forget that they've lost everything, you know? Because they're always strong." Lance's voice trembled at the word strong and he willed it to straighten up.

"Shiro is just so open to everyone and good with making all of us feel at home, not to mention a great leader and a perfect pilot for the Black Lion."

Keith obviously was not getting his point and Lance realized the horrible truth, he was actually going to have to spell it out.

"And . . . You." He didn't want to address this but he didn't want to _not_ address it either, "You're just a really good fighter."

Keith looked at him like he couldn't figure out where in the world Lance was going with this.

"And a good pilot, and Red loves you, and you're always ready for offensive action and you can read the situation around you and maybe you aren't the best diplomat--" Keith gave another amused sniff, "--But we can all trust you to have our backs, you know?" Lance messed with his jacket zipper, "I'm rambling and still haven't really said anything. Just, everyone has their thing and strong points and I'm only a, I don't know, a placeholder? Until we find someone better?"

Keith's bright, violet eyes widen with realization and surprise, "You mean you--Because we--And you . . ." He looked helpless at what to do or say and Lance suspected he had the same gaze in his own eyes.

"You are a dumbass McClain." Keith settled for saying, but not like an insult, like he couldn't understand if Lance was possibly for real, "A certified, full-ass idiot."

"Yeah." Lance mumbled.

" _How the hell are you a placeholder, Lance?_ " Keith sounded genuinely pissed off that Lance would even think this, using his annoyed voice but his face curved into a hurt frown.

The Blue Paladin shrugged, "Everyone has a thing but me." He said in a small voice.

"That's bull Lance, and you know it." Keith scooted an inch closer as Lance looked down, "We need you."

"Yeah. For Voltron, I know."

"Forget about Voltron. This team isn't just about saving the world, it's about saving each other too."

"You should write greeting cards."

"I'm serious!" He sighed, "Look Lance, you may not believe it, but this team would be a lot worse off without you around. Plus, Coran would be dead, Hunk would be dead, and I'd be dead too if you hadn't awaken from your mini coma and shot that stupid Galra is his ugly face."

"That's funny coming from you." Lance mused.

"Oh shut up. I'm trying to be nice here."

"You're not very good at it." He replied slyly, his mouth itching to smile.

"Yeah and you're just an angel, aren't you?" His voice full of friendly sarcasm.

Lance sat up straighter and smirked, "As a matter of fact, yes."

Keith rolled his eyes and Lance got de jevu of his half smile, "You always roll with the punches."

"And you're always doing the punching."

Keith was trying not to smile and it was starting to look like a smirk, "I plead guilty." He pulled himself up and then offered Lance his arm, which he took. Lance wondered if Keith realized this was their bonding moment playing over, this time in reverse.

So when he was standing, Lance punched his friend in the arm and said, "We are a good team."

Then Keith just beamed.


End file.
